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Safeguarding Healthcare Staffing in a Changing Labor Market
By Jason Putnam, CEO, Vetty
Healthcare organizations are entering 2026 facing a difficult reality: demand for care continues to grow while the workforce needed to deliver it struggles to keep pace.
The industry is still feeling the effects of pandemic-era staffing shortages. At the same time, regulatory pressures, funding constraints, and the rapid adoption of AI are creating new challenges for healthcare employers. While AI is often viewed as a tool to improve efficiency and reduce costs, it is also introducing new risks that hiring teams cannot afford to overlook. The environment has changed, and the hiring playbook needs to change with it.
According to AACN, more than 65,766 qualified nursing school applications were turned away in the most recent reporting year due to faculty shortages, clinical site limitations, and capacity constraints. The challenge is expected to persist, with roughly 200,000 annual registered nursing openings projected and a physician shortage that could reach 86,000 by 2036.
Healthcare workforce shortages are not new. Education requirements, training capacity, and workforce demographics have constrained hiring for years. At the same time, evolving immigration and workforce policies continue to create uncertainty around healthcare talent pipelines, adding another layer of complexity to an already strained labor market.
Healthcare organizations do not have the luxury of waiting for conditions to improve. Patients still need care. Facilities still need staff. Compliance obligations still exist.
Funding pressures and new policies will continue to reshape the healthcare landscape, potentially leading to facility restructuring and operational changes. But that does not necessarily mean healthcare staffing needs will decline. The workforce gaps remain significant, and demand for care continues to grow alongside an aging population.
Against this backdrop, emerging risks such as AI-enabled document fraud are forcing healthcare organizations to rethink how they hire, onboard, and verify talent. Everything from AI-generated resumes to proxy interviews and identity spoofing has made candidate misrepresentation easier to execute and harder to detect.
Compliance can no longer be treated as a final checkpoint in the hiring process. It must be embedded throughout the entire candidate lifecycle. An effective approach should account for three key areas:
AI, Automation, and Fraud
AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic identities present a growing challenge, particularly in highly regulated industries like healthcare. Fraudulent applicants can deceive staffing teams, creating the risk of hiring and credentialing unqualified—or in some cases nonexistent—candidates.
At the same time, emerging state regulations are creating new compliance requirements for both healthcare providers and staffing organizations. Technology plays an important role in managing these risks, but accountability cannot be automated.
Human oversight remains essential.
Not simply human-in-the-loop, but human accountability from start to finish.
Where Risk Still Exists
Verification does not end once an identity is confirmed.
In fact, some of the most important compliance work happens during the final stages of screening and credential validation. Work history reviews, professional license verification, drug screenings, and health screenings all play a critical role in ensuring candidates meet both regulatory requirements and client expectations.
Compliance is not a checklist.
It is a system of accountability.
And when patient care is involved, thorough verification is not optional.
Proven Practices That Work
Technology remains an important part of the solution. Integrated platforms can streamline I-9 workflows, background checks, credential monitoring, and onboarding while reducing administrative burden for staffing teams.
But not all solutions are created equal.
Healthcare organizations should look for accredited, integrated platforms that support verification, compliance, and onboarding without sacrificing oversight. Speed matters. Efficiency matters. But trust matters most.
The organizations that will be best positioned for the future are those that build hiring processes around consistency, transparency, and accountability.
Healthcare staffing is unlikely to become less complex in the years ahead. Labor shortages, regulatory pressures, and emerging fraud risks will continue to challenge employers across the industry.
In uncertain environments, organizations need structure.
A compliance-forward hiring strategy provides that structure. It creates consistency where uncertainty exists, strengthens trust throughout the hiring process, and helps organizations move faster without sacrificing confidence in the people they bring into critical roles.
Jason Putnam
CEO, Vetty
Jason Putnam is the innovative CEO at Vetty, a high-velocity hiring platform streamlining verification and onboarding at scale. With over 15 years of executive experience in SaaS,
go-to-market strategy, and revenue growth, he specializes in building high-impact teams, scaling startups, and delivering meaningful customer value.
Previously, Jason served as Chief Revenue Officer at Plum, leading global enterprise initiatives and transforming talent decision-making through psychometric data. His leadership journey includes various senior roles across the HR tech landscape, driven by a relentless focus on trust, innovation, and strategic execution.
Honored as a two-time Executive of the Year by both the Stevie (2022) and the Globie Awards (2021) and a two-time Inspiring Leader (Inspiring Workplaces, 2025 & 2024), Jason thrives on fostering energy, clarity, and a culture of growth. He also advises high-growth companies and communities like Catalyst Constellations, EDEN, and CareerXroads.
At Vetty, Jason’s passionate about transforming how great organizations hire great people—faster, smarter, and with greater confidence.
